The Republican agenda summarized. Senator Ron Johnson explains that health care, food, clothing and shelter are all privileges, and not rights. So if you're too poor to afford a roof over your head, clothes to keep warm, food to keep your kids developing well, and/or annual check-ups, Republicans think you should be "free" to go without such things. Yes, he actually framed it as an issue of freedom.

(I assume, as the ongoing Flint, Michigan troubles show, that clean drinking water is also a "privilege.")

Johnson claims these things are limited resources, but the U.S. is a net exporter of food. And housing is kept artificially expensive by people who consider homes to be investments instead of necessities.

Anyway, there's the Republican party for you: if you're not rich, you can just go die. And to speed up the process, they've been trying to get rid of our public safety-net programs. And ooops, in the frenzy of trying to destroy Obamacare last week, they neglected to re-authorize insurance for kids. And soon they're going to try to balloon the deficit through a massive tax cut in order to later say, "well, we can't afford all these public-assistance programs, now can we? Gotta kill Medicaid."

In a move that will go down in the annals of Washington as “predictable,” the staunchly pro-life Rep. Tim Murphy might be pro-life when it comes to his voting record; today, he voted in favor of the House’s 20-week abortion ban. But he isn’t exactly pro-life when it comes to his own personal pursuit of consequence-free extramarital sex.

And guns! Guns, ammo, training and practice all cost bucks. Republican solution? Poor people are "free" to get shot by rich people and criminals. Rather than work on sensible regulation that would protect everyone equally (and probably lower the suicide rate, to boot), Republicans whine about the 2nd Amendment while ignoring the 14th.

*I broaden my statement by not including Theocrats, as I have an ol' friend on Facebook who is atheist, a gun owner and dealer, and has admitted to have fanned the flames of "Obama's gonna take yer gunz!" for better sales.

You know ... It's one thing after another. I don't get this vote at all. But lately I don't get most of the things the right is doing. I mean, I know they appeal to certain people who they need on their side, but this vote wouldn't have offended anyone, at least in terms of votes or fundraising. It boggles the mind.

Now we're also going to talk about guns again. And you know where that will lead? Same place as always. It's freaking depressing.

Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.

Here’s my executive summary: *The death penalty is barbaric, but if your country insists on it, at least protect the rights of the accused and for sure don’t use it to punish “apostasy, blasphemy, adultery and consensual same-sex relations.”*

In the United States the federal government and 31 states impose a death penalty, making it rather awkward for the U.S. to vote “yes” on a resolution that says (correctly) that the death penalty is barbaric.

My outrage is that any country has, much less defends, a death penalty at all.

Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.

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